President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文, left) and Marshall Islands President Hilda Heine (right)

Majuro, The Marshall Islands, Oct. 30 (CNA) The president of the Republic of the Marshall Islands voiced her strong support Monday for Taiwan joining the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an environmental treaty adopted as the basis for a global response to challenges posed by climate change.

Hilda C. Heine spelled out the support at a banquet she hosted for a visiting delegation led by Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文).

Heine spoke about her concerns that climate change is threatening the security, economy and future of the Marshall Islands. With the gradual rise of sea levels, the country has experienced flooding and torrential rain with greater frequency, she said.

Her country has no option but to continue showing the world the dilemma it faces and take action to stem climate change, Heine said.

Impressed by Taiwan's efforts in the development of green energy, the president proposed the two countries take joint action to deal with environmental issues.

This is the reason the Marshall Islands strongly supports Taiwan's membership of the UNFCCC and international organizations such as the International Civil Aviation Organization and the World Health Organization, Heine said.

The existence of the Marshall Islands, consisting of two chains of coral atolls located north of the equator, is threatened by climate change, with many atolls lying barely a meter above sea level and at constant risk of being submerged.

Taiwan's President Tsai flew to the Pacific island-nation earlier in the day, the first stop on a state visit that will also take her to Tuvalu and the Solomon Islands.

Taiwan established diplomatic relations with the Marshall Islands in November 1998 and the two countries have forged cooperative ties in the development of renewable energy, farming, fisheries, horticulture and animal husbandry.

(By Lu Hsin-hui and Elizabeth Hsu)
Enditem/AW